lindens latest blog: dob a neighbour

Interesting passages, Cannae, from an early and violent era in the history of the ancient Hebrews. They are all from what Christians call the Old Testament, which is a sacred text not only to Christians but also to Jews and Muslims - the Q'uran specifically places the Old Testament on an equal par with itself as a holy text (along with the four Gospels in the New Testament.) This is why more enlightened Muslims like to refer to adherents of the three faiths as "Peoples of the Book." So please note that you are attacking not one but three of the great religions of the world. See, there are other passages in the Bible, some of which are rather more inspiring and in fact direct ancestors of the concepts of justice, compassion and the value of the individual that are inherent in your outlook.

Point of this thread is - present-day intolerance and the concept of Thought Crimes. Whether religion-based, ideology-based, psychopathology-based or any other -based. And here we have LL apparently being not only self-contradictory but also intolerant of people engaging in what are in the end consensual acts among adults in which in fact no-one is getting hurt - and apparently encouraging people to appoint themselves secret police and persecute them. They are feeding the concepts of intolerance and thought crimes by doing this. There is good reason for people to object strenuously and in no uncertain terms. We have strayed far beyond having reservations for the PG-minded and others for the "mature"-minded. This path is going to be bad for LL.

I am sure everything that I would have to say has been said...this is a support post. Personally I think it's over...no longer "your world, your imagination" but "all world laws, lowest common denominator, no imagination allowed". LL blew this fight by allowing any censorship of pixel representations of any object as if they were real. There are no real people in world...there are people, creatures, objects made up of imagination and desire, they are graphic representations of peoples imaginations. No real people can be harmed in the making of this motion picture...except in the ways that only LL can harm them....financially, by banning without recourse and stealing their land an possissions with their TOS signed eminent domain rights. LL has what they want now anyway....a happy land filled with happy middle class people with their midle class values (and middle class money), and to hell with the artists and malcontents and perverts who built this world as a place to escape from just that. It's a lost battle...for a while. They will have the middle class "norms" and their money and be happy..but the imagination and drive and pioneer spirit (pioneers are always made up of the malcontents and persecuted) will start over again somewhere else, while SL stagnates and becomes last years news....the AOL of virtual worlds. Good luck with that guys...^_^....OK..pack it up..merge in the teen gird...ah...that's better..happyland....^_^

That's All Just Leagl Talk To Stay Outta Jail...the Lindens Don't Wanna Do A Kiddie Porn Bid...and I Don't Blame Them...every Time I Ever Saw A Kiddie Avi In A Mature Site... I Contacted The Sim Managers With The Swiftest Of Alacrity... Though All The Child Avis Were No Doubt Religious Kooks Trying To Force Feed All Of Sl They're Brand Of Morality! Be Brave. Be Vigilant. Porn Is Always The First Barricade In The War Of Censorship! Let's Keep Free Speech In America And Spread Freedom Around The Globe. The Fifght Is Now. Let's Show The World How A Man Can Live....

I already addressed this, but it seems to have gotten lost.

The act that's problematic is not *committing* rape, which as you say is impossible on SL. The problem is producing pornographic images that show an apparant rape and broadcasting them on the internet.

I'm not attacking anybody, I did quote some passages exactly as written so people could decide on their own. Before the forums were gutted, I often stood up for people who where being attacked for their views even when I strongly disagreed with them. I'm the most liberal conservative there is. Or perhaps im a conservative liberal, I haven't quite decided yet.

But under the new rules, which I believe were posted in haste and not very well thought out, its going to be easy to legitimatly try to ban nearly everybody.

Large segments of the population find homosexuality offensive. According to the new rules, gays should be banned.

Significant portions of the population are gay. They are offended by those who find them offensive. So ban anybody who wants to ban gays.

As you pointed out, there are three religions who use the old testatment. According to the new rules, they should be banned.

And I really don't think much will come of these new rules. I bet that within the next week or two, we'll get a cheery new blog entry that guts them. Time will tell.

Youre sooo right! BDSM/GOR/FURRIE and RP stuff are NOT a CRIME! They are very different from senseless violence!

What are they thinking? We BDSM doing people loves our partners! We are no "gangstas"!

*shakes her head sadly*

MK

I'm not happy with that, as I doubt if many others would be as well. If kids are allowed in, then there really has to be a lot stricter controls to content.

A few choice quotes of interest -

Daniel loves the possible upcoming SL feature “symmetrical nodraw.” Which boils down to: “If I don’t like you I can make you disappear from my view entirely and I would disappear from yours as well.” This would work because griefers thrive on attention.


Daniel is no big fan of the separated Teen and Adult grid model and think that Linden Lab eventually will pursue and All ages option.


There are a lot of things that don’t work the way they should and it is due to a relatively small development team. An example is the PG vs. Mature rating system which is going to go away eventually as well.


Linden Lab will continue the drive towards making SL islands more and more independent. In the future island owners will handle their own abuse reports.


So all is not lost it seems, just more expensive.

"Daniel loves the possible upcoming SL feature “symmetrical nodraw.” Which boils down to: “If I don’t like you I can make you disappear from my view entirely and I would disappear from yours as well.” This would work because griefers thrive on attention."


if this “symmetrical nodraw” is being worked on i beg Linden Labs to implement that ASAP

"Daniel is no big fan of the separated Teen and Adult grid model and think that Linden Lab eventually will pursue and All ages option."

There was no quote there, but if that is what Daniel thinks then he needs to be taken away from the frontline on any sort of id verification and safer place blogs. The safest way of keeping kids away from dodgy content is to discourage them from coming here.

Hmm.... sounds familiar....


"The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal is a creature that hails from the planet of Traal, and will eat anything. If you are to encounter one, the Guide tells you that it's impossible to slay, so you should wrap a towel around your head. This creature is so mind-bogglingly stupid that it assumes that if you can't see it, then it can't see you." - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

You mean like Hentai?

The symetrical no draw is a nice idea..but will not work. The people behind the witch hunt do not want you to disappear..they want you to be punished for not thinking the way they do. If you are seen doing something that offends them...(like say..existing)...they will not "no draw" you....they will start snapping photos....(so they can be offended over and over again in the privacy of their own homes, proven by the point that all they have ever had to do was go someplace else.)....^_^. Remember..this is not about you..this is about their fear of their ability to control you..right down to your fantasy life. We have seen this fight in painting and sculpture and writing and movies and static graphic forms and now digital graphic forms. While some cases may be made about photographic media, since in most cases real people need to be involved in the portrayals, in the long run, this outright censorship when there are no injured parties (except for maybe the tender eyeballs of our more sensitive compatriots), has always been found to be insane in most modern educated societies. I think (strangely enough), that on this subject the laws in the US seem to be more relevant than those of most of the so called "liberal" Eruopean states. You can try and get something prosecuted as pornography, if you can convince some certain number of members of your communtiy it is pornographic...but in order to use the child pornoghraphy statues, which are much broader, and do not even need any actual nudity or contact..just the suggestion that such might have/will possibly occur (and rightfully so), in order for these broader and more highly punished laws to be broken...actual children need to have been involved. Child porn laws are not social engineering laws..they were made for the express purpose of protecting real children in real situations, and should not be cheapened because someone gets upset about a dtawing or a cartoon. This holld true for all of the new rules. A cartoon can not hurt you...no matter what it is doing to you, and no matter what it may be doing to someone else. If I am LL I introduce "no draw" tomorrow...and each time someone AR's and says "Johhny was touching Cindy's pee pee" you tell them "Well then...I hope you "no drawed" them...that'll teach them then won't it...".....^_^

Ummm...like, say, a burqa? *runs away and hides in shame*

I wonder how many "no draw" couples you can stack on a sexgen bed before the sim collapses......^_^...each performing their own individual kinks with no knowledge that any of the others are even there......

...or would it be just a mass of disembodied whips and chains flailing about....

LL is not ever going to ban gays, or gay activity. Period.

A proportion of the LL staff IS gay.

They are doing this because of (a) legal reasons and (b) corporations, both of which can be boiled down to (c) money.

Those of you talking about how horrible Christians are, and how it's our fault, keep it up and I will be glad to change over to LL's side on this whole thing.

coco

Yes, Hentai has actually already gotten someone thrown in jail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Whorley

This person did actually have photographic child pornography too - but the court report of the number of charges made, confirms that the anime images were counted and attracted charges.

(Also, because I know someone is going to say this: the PROTECT 2003 act, under which Dwight was charged, was *not* overturned by Congress. The law that was overturned was the CPPA 1996, which was overturned in 2002, before PROTECT was even passed. A portion of PROTECT *was* indeed overturned, but not the portion making virtual images count as child pornography.)

"Those of you talking about how horrible Christians are, and how it's our fault, keep it up and I will be glad to change over to LL's side on this whole thing."

you can go over to the darkside if you want to. christians arent excluded from blame, neither is anyone else. its pretty sad people insist on us against them when it should be live and let live. From what i can tell Linden Labs side and everyone who agrees with them are the agressors here. Not the people asking to be left alone with their own thoughts. So people can say anything they want but that is how i know this is very wrong whats happening.

How did this turn into a "blame Christians for everything" thread?

Unless the Pope or Fred Phelps decided to invest some money in Linden Lab during the last couple of weeks, I can't see that there is any 'christian influence' of any sort shaping Linden Lab's thinking on this issue.

Rather than decrying the loss of something they have enjoyed, why can't people be grateful for having had the privilege of experiencing something that perhaps they never should have been able to in the first place?

If you were only here for the sex, and feel that your entire purpose for being here has been destroyed by this announcement... see ya.

Broccoli

Well said. Second Life isn't just about sex, and this discussion should have nothing to do with people's faith or religion.

Exactly people are responsible for their actions not some diety.

im not gonna engage you in any debating Broccoli - i dont reward people who put words in my mouth by giving them my attention. Please try new tactics.

"this discussion should have nothing to do with people's faith or religion."

why not? i mean im just playing devils advocate here but why shouldnt any aspect of your personal belief system be on the table when discussing this particular matter. Seems to me like its all fair game. I personally dont see it has a huge relevance in the context youre apparently talking about but so what. Besides the point.

People form opinions about things for all types of reasons. Religion would be one example

Notice all the deflection . . . whats wrong you dont have anything to say about it?
answer for yourself. why are you so agressive to police the thoughts of grown adults who dont know you from adam and frankly do not care what you think

Because my faith is none of your damn business. Religion, politics, those sort of things always end up with one side getting severely bashed by the other side. It becomes biased based on who is what. "Oh, he's a Christian" or "She's a pagan" or whatever. Then instead of being someone, you are a "something" - a typecast. No thank you.

"Because my faith is none of your damn business. Religion, politics, those sort of things always end up with one side getting severely bashed by the other side. It becomes biased based on who is what. "Oh, he's a Christian" or "She's a pagan" or whatever. Then instead of being someone, you are a "something" - a typecast. No thank you."

Right. Thank you. i was counting on you to help me make my point. So then all these things like your religion and poitics, etc. . . . those are all your personal thoughts and beliefs, arent they? i dont really have any business telling you what religion you should believe in or what political party you should vote for . . . and your sexuality? Can i tell you that from now on emm ok from now on you are only allowed to enjoy sexual thoughts about gay male midgets? Well i mean make up your mind . .

What I mean is my faith, my god, or my religion has no bearing in a topic about sex on Second Life. It only has bearing when people bring it into the conversation, and then it becomes exactly what it was, which is people bashing a *group* of people, a lump of individuals, for what they are.